He entered court circles 1828 when he became drawing master to Sophie Margravine and her husband Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden. He moved to France where he exhibited a portrait of the Prince of Wagram with his young daughter. His career as a portrait painter was soon secured when in the same year he painted Louise Marie of Orleans, Queen of the Belgians, and her son, Duc de Brabant. It was probably through this painting that Winterhalter came to the notice of Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies Queen of the French, mother of the Queen of the Belgians.In Paris, Winterhalter quickly became fashionable. He was appointed court painter of Louis-Philippe, the king of the French, who commissioned him to paint individual portraits of his large family. He went on to paint extensively for Queen Victoria of England and Empress Eugenie of France.(two other posts featuring his art)Persistence saw Winterhalter survive from the fall of one dynasty to the rise of another. As the "Painter of Princes", Winterhalter was thereafter in constant demand by the courts of Britain, Spain,Belgium, Russia, Mexico, the German courts, and France. [condensed from Wikipedia]

Leopold I of Belgium, Louise Marie of Orleans, Queen of Belgians(Leopold n 1840, arranged the marriage of his niece, Queen Victoria, the daughter of his sister, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, to his nephew, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of his brother, Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.)

Although this site is called Enchanted Serenity of Period Films, I've recently gathered a few of the paintings that have caught my eye. I've been delighted to find more creations by the same artist when I had previously only known one or two pieces of their artwork. For instance, one of my favourite paintings has been Empress Eugenie Surrounded by Her Ladies in Waiting. Once I discovered the painting's title, I was thrilled to discover the story behind Franz Xavier Winterhalter and many of his other paintings as one of the regal court's favoured artists (including of Queen Victoria). Other artists that impressed me with their style and setting include Edmund Blair Leighton, Sir Frank Dicksee and John William Waterhouse.

I always admired this painting, not knowing who the subject was [ the last surviving French person to have worn a crown].After the accession of Napoleon III, Winterhalter's popularity grew and he became the chief portraitist of the imperial family and court of France. The beautiful French Empress Eugénie became a favorite sitter and she treated him generously. In 1855 Winterhalter painted his masterpiece: The Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting. He set the French Empress in a pastoral setting gathering flowers in a harmonious circle with her ladies in waiting. The painting was acclaimed, and exhibited in the universal exposition in 1855. It remains Winterhalter's most famous work.

Eugénie de Montijo

[Empress consort of the French](1826 – 1920)

(full name: María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick) was the last Empress consort of the French (1853-1871), the wife of Napoleon III, [Napoleon III was the nephew of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte I.] On March 16, 1856, the empress gave birth to an only son, Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte. [Napoleon IV]

She was known for her style, just like her predecessor Marie Antoinette:When the empress wore the new cage crinolines in 1855, European fashion followed suit, and when she abandoned vast skirts at the end of the 1860s, at the encouragement of her legendary couturier, Charles Worth, the silhouette of women's dress followed her lead again. Eugénie's aristocratic elegance, splendour of dress and legendary jewels are well documented in innumerable paintings, especially by her favourite portraitist, Winterhalter. Her interest in the life of Marie Antoinette of Austria sparked a fashion for furniture and interior design in the neoclassical style popular during the reign of Louis XVI of France.

After her husband was overthrown in 1870, following the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon and Eugénie lived in exile in the United Kingdom. She died in 1920.

The Empress Eugenie

Emperor Napoleon III

The Empress Eugenie a la Marie-Antoinette

Empress Eugenie holding Napoleon IV

I can't help but wonder if these royals appreciated photographyand the short time needed to sit still as opposed to posing for a painted portrait.